Disney Announces 'Mulan' Live Action Remake

Now the 1998 Disney hit 'Mulan' is to be reimagined as a live-action film, though a release date has not yet been confirmed.

Following the runaway success of Disney’s live action remake of Cinderella, classic animation revivals are all the rage at the minute, and the studio is banking on repeating those successes with the announcement that they are to revive Mulan on the big screen.

Telling the story of Chinese war heroine Hua Mulan who disguises herself as a man in order to take her father’s place in the army and go to war, it was originally a hit back in 1998 for Disney. In addition to earning $304.3 million worldwide, it also received a host of Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

Zhang Ziyi was touted for the role of Mulan in an ultimately aborted 2010 live action remake

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio has bought a script by writing duo Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek focussing once again on the character. The project will be producing by Chris Bender and J.C. Spink, the team responsible for We’re The Millers.

No casting news has been announced for the remake as yet, and neither is there a confirmed release date. However, the studio is already gearing up for work on a live action version of Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson, which is due for release on March 17th, 2017, so we can only anticipate that Mulan will come after that.

A live action remake helmed by Disney was originally expected when Chinese actress Zhing Ziyi was confirmed as playing the role of 'Mulan' back in 2010, but the project ultimately never got off the ground due to a lack of funding.

In 2016, Disney is scheduled to release a new version of The Jungle Book and a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, whose 2010 reimagining grossed a stunning $1.02 billion worldwide. It’s understandable that they should want to capitalise on the trend for live action remakes – recently, Tim Burton was unveiled as the director for a remake of Dumbo.

And, of course, the current success of Cinderella, starring ‘Downton Abbey’s Lily James and directed by Kenneth Branagh, is another reason for Disney to expand in this direction. It debuted at the top of the box offices in the US and the UK, and has earned over $330 million worldwide.